Boston or Chicago?

[samepoohdifferentday]

I am thinking of planning a trip to Boston or Chicago this summer. I haven't been to either. Flights out of Buffalo seem cheap, but hotels seem expensive. I may book through Hotwire or Priceline. Is there a cheaper way to stay? (under $100 a night)

Our family is DW, DH, DD10 and DD7. Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[PelletierBears]

What you can do is stay just outside the city where hotel prices are a but less. There is a Courtyard Marriot in East Boston for instance that is really close to the "T" (train service) so you can be downtown within 15 mins.

 

[JennSaint]

Definitely use hotwire and you will save! There is alot to do in Boston! The kids would probably enjoy the Duck Tour.

 

[MrsPMC00]

This same advice applies to Chicago. Stay outside of the city, but near the Metra and you will save a ton. We are in the Western suburbs....take a look at Naperville of Downers Grove. if you go to metrarail .com you will be able to see the other lines for the northern burbs, etc. There is a ton to do here in the summer! Festivals every weekend, all the museums, Navy Pier, etc . Let me know if I can be of any help!

What you can do is stay just outside the city where hotel prices are a but less. There is a Courtyard Marriot in East Boston for instance that is really close to the "T" (train service) so you can be downtown within 15 mins.

 

[finz2left]

If you haven't been to either with kids, I'd say Boston. I'm from the Chicago suburbs and LOVE Chicago, and would move back tomorrow if I could. BUT, I lived in Boston for 3 years and still never finished seeing everything. It is less spread out than Chicago, tons of fun/historical sites, and much more "walkable." Both have ample public transit, but Boston's seems easier to navigate for me.

Have fun; either place will certainly be worthy of a vacation!

 

[akcire]

I'm in a Chicago suburb. I too vote for Boston

 

[MrsPMC00]

I am surprised by the Chicagoans! My hubby and I have been to Boston several times without our kids and LOVE IT!!! We can;t wait to go back...but we don't think our kids are old enough quite yet to get enough out of it. That could be because of me though...I LOVE the Freedom Trial, I LOVE the JFK museum and I don't see them being interested enough quite yet for me to enjoy it with them. When I think they are old enough, I absolutely cannot wait to take them!

I do agree though - they are both great cities and you will have a wonderful time no matter which you choose!!!

 

[dizneechic]

We live outside of Boston and love going in for day trips. I've lived here since '84 and still haven't seen everything to do in town. As one of the PP's mentioned its a great city, very walkable, and just packed with stuff to enjoy at any age.

Another pp mentioned checking out a Duck Tour. We did one for the 1st time this summer and it was a BLAST! I did a blog post on it and you can see lots of great shots of the city in there, as well as a video of our splashdown. I would highly recommend one to get an overall view of the city and maybe narrow down some areas you want to check out while your here.

 

[3boymthr]

There are lots of places to stay that are near the trains in the Boston area, especially if you don't care about being right downtown. Here is a link to the trains/subway: http://www.mbta.com/

If I might recommend tho, if you are going to use priceline or Hotwire, be very careful in specifying distance from city center. I just went on to priceline to see how much the rates were for Boston and was surprised to see places that due to traffic conditions are an hour drive from the city showing up (Lexington and Waltham) which do have access to commuter rail but the hotels may not be walking distance to the train line.

 

[windycitymom]

I'm from Chicago, and have been to Boston. Boston is great, but I believe there is more to do in Chicago - especially with kids.

 

[beansmom]

from Boston you can take the ferry to Salem or out to George's Island for the day. I imagine (but not sure) you can also ferry over to the Cape somewhere.

There is also whale-watching, Red Sox games, museums.

I vote for Boston!

 

[Evi]

I'd pick Boston not only because I'm from here but because our transportation system is ridiculous. It takes a little getting used to if your not accustomed to taking public transit but if you google mbta you can get on website once you've picked a hotel and you can get print out directions on what bus/train to take to get where. Also so long as you pick a hotel that has access to public transportation you'll be able to get anywhere you like.

As for where to stay take a look at the MBTA maps on the website and figure how far out you are from the city downtown. Also if you rent a car lots of places to stay off highway and very quick drive into the city. Neighborhoods that I would look into that are also nice would be Quincy (voted Americas number 1 city to raise a family), Brookline (very walkable as far as places to eat and train ride into the city), Cambridge.

 

[kydisneyfans]

Chicago, and I wouldn't think twice about it. We stayed just past OHare for $35 on priceline and took the Metra downtown. So much to do, so little time.

We vacationed in Boston about 5 years ago and all 3 of agreed that it was a big waste of time and money, we just didn't enjoy the vacation.

 

[snowbunny]

I would totally go to Chicago over Boston. Such a great city, museums, restaurants, shopping, neighborhoods, wonderful people (yes I'm from the midwest originally, people are NICE even in the big city), I could spend a week there easily.

I've gotten priceline 4* hotels on Michigan Avenue for $79 a night. Just make sure you are either there, in River North, or in the Loop when you do your priceline bids.

 

[mommycrawford]

I can only speak for Boston...The Children's museum there is phenomenal!!!! And there is Quincy Market, and Whale watching off Glouchester (SP?) and general coastal fun!

Perhaps you can find a B&B that is priced well, and with breakfast covered, it could cut some expense. Mass transit there is easy which is a plus!

 

[JoyG]

I can only speak for Boston...The Children's museum there is phenomenal!!!! And there is Quincy Market, and Whale watching off Glouchester (SP?) and general coastal fun!

Perhaps you can find a B&B that is priced well, and with breakfast covered, it could cut some expense. Mass transit there is easy which is a plus!

I've been to the children's museums in both Boston and Chicago, I actually liked the Chicago one better (although if the OP is from Buffalo, neither one beats our own children's museum in Rochester), but that was before they remodeled the Boston one.

OP, we've been to both cities and we drove from Buffalo. So, if you're looking to save a little money, driving might be an option. Boston is a shorter drive.

I'd probably pick Boston in the summer, unless you're museum people otherwise I'd definitely say Chicago.

If you do Boston, is there anyway to spend some time on the Cape? We had a blast there.

I have a Chicago trip report and a Cape Cod trip report in my signature. I didn't write about Boston, but I remember enjoying the hop-on, hop-off trolley tour and the Fenway Tour.

 

[clori]

I have two girls dd9 and dd 5 (will be 10/6 by July). We live just outside of Boston with easy subway access so we think nothing of hopping on the bus to the subway.

The other day dd9 and I were talking about this summer. Last summer dd did some day camp weeks etc but between that and other summer plans we agreed summer was too structured too many days so we aren't doing day camp at all this summer though I still want to try and get dd5 into swiming lessons. We plan on getting a monthly combo pass for $59 (girls are both free still) for most places and the library offers passes for several places)

Places we want to go to that are good for both girls - Mary Eddy Mapporium, Museum of Science Harvard Museum of Natural History (dd loved it on two field trips in first grade), Childrens Museum, Old State House Museum, USS Constitution Museum, Museum of Fine Arts, Paul Revere House, etc. The girls also like to go wading at the frog pond, ride the swan boats, check out Fanieul Hall which often has street entertainment.